Club looks to boost Miller

Attorney Joe Miller will get a helping hand from the conservative Club for Growth as he tries to keep his 1,668-vote lead over Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

The Club for Growth announced Friday afternoon it would assist Miller in the count by reaching out to donors and asking them to contribute to his campaign.

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The group’s endorsement of Miller and funding pleas will provide a counterweight to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which dispatched its top lawyer to assist Murkowski during the ballot-counting process.

It is the NRSC’s official policy to support Republican incumbents, but committee officials have reached out to Miller to say they will support him if he hangs on to win the GOP nomination. But that did not stop the Club for Growth from jumping in to assist Miller during the count, which could continue through the end of September.

“Club for Growth PAC will help Joe Miller overcome Lisa Murkowski’s money and manpower advantages, to make sure this process remains fair and transparent,” said the group’s president, former Indiana Rep. Chris Chocola.

Miller will likely welcome the cash influx: He reported $84,000 in the bank as of Aug. 4 — a fraction of what Murkowski had on hand at the time.

Election officials will count the vast majority of the incoming ballots on Aug. 31. If necessary, the officials will continue to count remaining absentee ballots on Sept. 3 and Sept. 8.

Murkowski has not ruled out other options regarding the race if she loses the primary. She could run as a write-in candidate or try to run as the Libertarian Party’s nominee.